Progress? Eli Manning Thinks Giants Offense Improved as Season Went On

The New York Giants' offense ranked at the bottom half of the league, but former QB Eli Manning said there were some signs of progress.

To say that the Giants’ offense had a forgettable 2020 season would probably be an understatement.

New York finished ranked with the league’s 31st scoring defense (17.5 points per game) and total offense (299.6 yards per game), and their rushing offense (19th, 110.5 yards per game) and passing offense (29th, 189.1 yards/game) weren’t that much better.

Despite the struggles the Giants offense appeared to have in 2020, former quarterback Eli Manning thinks the offense made progress as the year went on and is headed in the right direction.

“Yeah, I think they are on the right track,” said Manning, who along with his father Archie spoke to Giants Country in an exclusive interview to promote their appearance in Frito-Lay’s new Super Bowl ad, ’Twas the Night Before the Super Bowl.

“I kind of had a feeling it was gonna be tough at the beginning of the season, when you have a lot of new players, new left tackle, young quarterback--young guys kind of all around the offense. Then throw in a new system—learning a new system for a quarterback takes time just to get comfortable with—and no off-season program. So I knew it was gonna take a little time for them to come together.”

Manning pointed out that as the Giants gained experience playing together as an offense, they started to perform better. The Giants went 1-7 in their first eight games but finished 5-3 in the back half of the season, even going so far as to remain in the hunt for a playoff berth in an admittedly weak NFC East.

That wasn’t the only improvement made by the offense. In their first eight games, the unit averaged 291.7 yards per game; in their final eight, that average rose (slightly) to 307.5 yards per game.

The running game, which had Saquon Barkley for a little more than four quarters before his season-ending torn ACL, even perked up in the second half of the year, averaging 122.5 yards per game versus the 98.5 yards per game they averaged in the first eight games.

However, one stat that didn’t improve as the offense began to settle down was points scored.

The Giants averaged 18.1 points per game in the first eight games. That average dropped to 16.8 points per game in the back end of the season, as New York failed to score at least 20 points in nine of their 16 games, including two multi-week stretches (their first four games and then a five-game stretch in the second half of the season).

Of those nine low-scoring affairs, the Giants failed to hit double digits in four games.

Clearly, the Giants need playmakers to improve the scoring stat, perhaps the most important stat of all when it comes to the offense. But Manning believes that with more playmakers and the benefit of having had the full season under their belts, things are in a position to turn around in 2021.

“I think if they can keep that same core of guys and same core coaches and have a full off season and go off that momentum, (they can) start turning the corner and start winning some of those tight games early and help gain some confidence and going in through the whole season next year,” he said.

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For the complete interview with Eli and Archie Manning, including their take on how a young quarterback like Daniel Jones can help a developing offensive line, the effect the Giants offensive line rotation has on a quarterback, thoughts about Jones’ mobility and if there is a danger of him developing happy feet in the pocket, and their experience filming the commercial for Frito-Lay, check out the full LockedOn Giants podcast. 

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